Commission approves giant mural

This mural was approved for the side of the Family Services of Central Alberta building in Red Deer on Monday.

Family Services of Central Alberta are taking an eye-catching approach to showing the community what the organization does.

The agency that offers counselling and education programs to local residents of all ages is planning a giant three-metre-by-35.4-metre mural on the north wall of their offices at 5409 50th Ave.

The city’s municipal planning commission approved the mural Monday.

The design by local artists Andi Murray and Rikki Renard shows local residents, from seniors to infants, and from a variety of cultural backgrounds, in a bigger-than-life, colourful mural stretching the length of the building.

“We wanted to put something on the building to be welcoming and to show we do inter-generational programming,” said Valdene Callin, Family Services marketing manager.

The mural will cost about $20,000 and it is hoped work can begin in the second week of July so it can be completed by the end of August.

“It’s all weather dependent,” said Callin.

Murray and Renard will work on the faces and oversee the project, but there will also be opportunities for the public to put brush to wall.

The mural will be painted in acrylics and part of it will be done on panels, which will then be mounted on the wall. The mural will be about six metres off the ground to discourage graffiti.